Facebook is hard to block well because half of it is useful. Messenger is how your family reaches you; a group is where the school or the club posts; a page is your own business. Block the whole site and you lose those, so the block comes off by Thursday. Here are the manual ways to block Facebook, what each cannot do, and a FocusMe plan that blocks the feed and keeps the parts you need.
The manual ways, and where they fall down
Facebook’s own tools
Facebook can show a daily reminder when you have spent your chosen amount of time, and Quiet mode silences notifications for a window you set. Both are notifications; neither stops you opening the feed. Deactivating your account works until you log in again, which reactivates it.
The hosts file
On Windows (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts, as administrator) or Mac (/etc/hosts), lines sending facebook.com, www.facebook.com and m.facebook.com to 127.0.0.1 stop the site loading in every browser. Two catches beyond the usual ones (no schedule, the same edit undoes it, nothing on the phone): Messenger on the web signs in through Facebook, so it breaks too, and so does “Log in with Facebook” on other sites.
Browser extensions
News-feed eradicators and blocker extensions work in one browser and switch off from the extensions page. They are a nudge, and they are off in private windows unless you allow them.
Screen Time and Digital Wellbeing
An app limit on Facebook, in iPhone Screen Time or Android’s Digital Wellbeing, is protected by a passcode you chose and an “ignore limit” button. Fine on a child’s phone with a parent holding the passcode. On your own, it lasts as long as you let it.
Block Facebook with FocusMe
FocusMe blocks websites and apps on Windows, Mac and Linux, and on Android and iPhone, with one account that syncs the plan.
Block the site, keep Messenger
- Open the Plans tab, click Add a Plan and name it.
- On What to block, add
facebook.com. That coversm.facebook.comand the rest. - Open Advanced, switch the list to Allowed and add
facebook.com/messages. For Messenger’s own site addmessenger.comtoo. - Click Next, set the schedule, pick how strict, and Create & Enable.
Allowed entries always win, so the inbox opens and the feed shows the FocusMe block page. The same trick keeps one group: allow facebook.com/groups/yourgroupname. Turn on Similarity protection in the same panel so the allow list cannot be widened into the rest of the site.
Only Reels
Add facebook.com/reel on its own and the rest of Facebook stays open. Quicker still, click the FocusMe icon in the browser toolbar and tick Block Facebook Reels. There is a step-by-step post on Shorts and Reels if that is all you want.
On your phone
On Android, pick the Facebook app and add facebook.com as a website; Messenger is a separate app, so leave it off the plan and it keeps working. Links opened inside Messenger are checked against the plan too. On iPhone, pick Facebook from your apps, or the whole Social category, and iOS Screen Time enforces the plan so it keeps working when FocusMe is closed.
A budget instead of a ban
On When it runs, choose Time Limit and allow 15 minutes a day, or a Session Limit of two visits of ten minutes with a wait between. The quick check stays quick, and when the budget is spent Facebook is blocked until tomorrow.
Make it stick
Give it a schedule. Office hours on weekdays, or 9pm to 7am every day. The plan starts and stops by itself; you decided once.
Pick how strict. Gentle Guidance asks for five random characters before a plan stops: a decision, not a reflex. Firm but Flexible adds a wait and three pauses a day. Lock it Down means 25 characters typed perfectly and a ten-minute wait, no pauses.
Or commit. Enforced Mode means the plan runs to its end; while it runs it cannot be stopped or weakened, only made stricter. Test the allow list on Unlocked for a day first, so the group you need is on it before you lock the door.
Frequently asked questions
Can I block Facebook but keep Messenger?
Yes. On a computer, block facebook.com and allow facebook.com/messages and messenger.com. On a phone, Messenger is its own app and stays off the plan.
Can I keep one group or my business page?
Yes. Put the group’s or page’s address on the allow list. It opens; the feed does not.
Does it work in every browser?
Yes. A plan applies to every browser on the computer, private windows included, and to every browser on an Android phone.
Can I block only Facebook Reels?
Yes. Add facebook.com/reel to the plan, or tick Block Facebook Reels in the FocusMe browser extension.
Related: Break a social media habit, FocusMe for parents, The FocusMe website blocker.
